Blog Post

More than three months after we reported that Darren Feher left NBC Universal (NYSE: GE) to head Conviva, the content delivery company is making it official. The former NBCU CTO is president and CEO, while co-founder Dr. Hui Zhang has moved to chief scientist. Zhang will focus on product development and technology while Feher, a former West Point grad (and one-time GE Six Sigma quality leader), tries to better package and sell it. Conviva’s clients include NBC Sports for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games; it will provide real-time streaming usage data and streaming management for NBCU’s online production using Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) Silverlight.

Founded in 2006, Conviva has raised $29 million in two rounds from Foundation Capital, NEA and UV Ventures. Feher told paidContent that while Conviva has had some conversations about equity partnerships with “strategic ” partners and is still evaluating the idea, the company is not trying to raise more money: “We’re not in a position where we have to.”

The “relaunch” in the works for the past couple of months includes a corporate makeover as well as a strategic shift, moving away from the need to download a client to track usage to managing it virtually. Feher says Conviva helps companies avoid buffering stoppages, which in turn increases viewership: “What we see is people who don

Feher at his best, he convinced these people that their original idea was crap and they should listen to his genius idea when he was their customer at NBCU. They now have deviated from their original idea………………..that is the kiss of death and Darth Vader Feher Mr. I know it all will burn through their cash and take them to ground zero.

The comany WILL have to raise money. 29 million and they burned through 2/3 of it by now. With 10 million left they are essentially starting over with a new business model. I doubt they can pull it off in 12 months with a burn rate of 750k per month (guessing here). And if investors are smart they’ll hold on to their cash and put it in better companies.

NBCU wonâ€™t be too thrilled with the description of Feher as â€œcredited with the companyâ€™s advancements in online video, viral and social communities, interactive television, games, and mobile experiences.â€

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You’re right, because CTOs don’t lead business initiatives. The land grab people make when they exit a company is always funny to watch, this one is no different. Post Conviva can we look forward to their executive team taking credit for removing “stoppages” on the internets?